Hello everyone! Thanks for your kind reviews! I can't believe I got two within the first day! This chapter is much shorter than the last, but I hope you enjoy it. Please read and review! I'll update sooner. Haha!

Thank you xxBroken21xx and fanficfanatic940 for your reviews!


Dawn broke and the sun magnified dew drops that lazily fell from petals on the flowers outside of Yamanaka Ino's window. Her oceanic eyes burst open with the siren beaming from the final alarm. Four thirty five, he'll give me hell for sleeping in She chewed her glazed thoughts, dragging her legs to the closet and dressing for the hike that waited on her. Reality was right outside her door as a sizzle from the kitchen breathed into the cracks of her sensory.

He's cooking something?She quickly erased the fact and combed her hair into a trim pony tail.

The living room was unusually tidy. Shikamaru had been up for nearly ten minutes, and naturally took care of his own mess. This wasn't his usual couch-turned bed, his kitchen, nor was it his mother's whining. This was all Ino's.

"You're up, finally." Shikamaru wheezed into the frying pan.

"I had some...last minute packing."

Shikamaru was silent as he filled two plates with traditional, yet simple, breakfast gruel. Eggs with whatever else he could find. "Eat up. We've got a long day ahead of us."


They were close to the city limits when Shikamaru consulted the map. Their feet rapping on the tree branches as they climbed closer to the first red "X" marked on Tsunade's map. As they reached a small creek was flowing through the forest. The current was calm on this overcast, yet warm day. Fish navigated through the stream and wildflowers bowed to and fro in the light breeze.

Ino opened her packet that was strapped inside of a canvas bag slung over her shoulder. The illustration of this herb looked much more like a purple flower than any kind of herb she has seen.

"Ino, you know flowers better than I do, do you mind taking a look?" He held out a potential candidate.

The flower he held out had soft, violet petals. She knew right away. "The cosmos," she smiled, it was her flower. "I understand why Tsunade chose me now. This flower means a lot to me."

"So, this is the right one?"

"Basically, but we need to gather its seeds," She agreed.

Shikamaru gathered as many cosmos as he could placing them by Ino, who was sitting with her jacket tied around her waist near the stream and pulling the seeds from the center of each flower.They were black and the size of a poppy seed. She sifted each seed into a small pouch with a drawstring. After they had gathered enough to fill ten pouches, they set off to the next destination.


Birds chirped in the distance, flapping their painted wings through the trees that Shikamaru and Ino leapt through. The branches beneath them heaving their weight and guiding them to a meadow. The clearing was vast and almost cluttered with the reds and yellows and blues of snapdragons and clovers busily arranged in nature's motif.

"This might be a nice place to take a break," Shikamaru added.

"I agree. It's nice here."

Shikamaru opened his large pack, pulling out a bento box full of rice and croquets. Ino opened her lunch box and the duo leaned back into the pasture of color.

"Ino, why do you like the cosmos flower so much?"

"Hmm," She rested a snack on her lap, taking a swallow before continuing. "It's kind of a long story. But they have always been in my life."

"Huh, sort of like my clouds?" He chuckled softly and gnawed on a cold pork croquet.

"You could say that, yeah."

They each looked up, the day had faded from overcast to a blue and white gentleness. Ino noted a shape that looked sort of like a pineapple.

"I like to think someday I'll be a cloud."

"Maybe, but hopefully not too soon" Ino mumbled. One death was hard enough to deal with.

"Don't worry. I don't plan on joining them any time soon."

They ate in silence for the remainder of their meal. Shikamaru leaned back into the brush and stared into the sky; searching for a familiar shape. "That one," he said before long, "it looks nice." He pointed directly up.

"Oh!" Ino looked closer; it was a daisy shape with a stem, "A flower! What about that one over there?" She pointed behind him.

He shifted in the grass, leaning his head farther back and holding himself up by his elbow. "I see it. The cat."

"It looks more like a deer to me, Shikamaru." She hissed a laugh through her teeth and packed away her lunch box.

He laughed and acknowledged the deer shaped gem. Then without a second's notice, they were off again.


"The next item we have to find is sap from a maple tree. Do you see it on the map?" Ino asked, pulling on her jacket while keeping up with Shikamaru.

"Yeah, it should be right around here." He responded a moment later. His ponytail whisked in the breeze as he flew from branch to branch in the open forest. Shikamaru looked through a belt of evergreen firs to see a single maple. Its roots were tangled in the soil, and the leaves were golden and red. Amber sap trickled down the bark's sides; glossy in the afternoon sun.

"Well, how do we get to the sap?" Ino was interested. She had never seen syrup like this, flowing in rays down the grey trunk.

"You have to tap into the stem and siphon the syrup to a canteen," he shifted, digging into his bag. "Luckily, I brought an extra for this." Shikamaru held out an aluminum water canteen.

Although Ino considered herself as an expert botanist, she had no experience with forestry. As Shikamaru tapped into the tree with a kunai, she admired the sap that filled the container. It was golden, sweet smelling, and looked very sticky. She watched his hands steady the contraption, his eyes veiled in concentration.

After a few minutes, the canteen was filled to the brim of maple sap and he tightened the lid around it, quickly cleaning off the balm from around the edges with a rag from his other hand. He lifted the container and placed it into his bag, then reached for the kunai still plunged into the tree. Ino hadn't stopped staring, when he turned to her and replied with a smile. "Alright, what's next?"

"Um," She hesitated, pulling herself out of a trance. "Let's see." Ino pulled out her packet again from her canvas bag and rifled through the pages of the guide. The cosmos seeds were nestled into the pouches, safely tucked away. As she shuffled through the illustrations, she noticed that there were only two left. One that was at least a day away, near Otogakure, and another that was closer. She noticed a vast valley on the map. "Hmm, we have to find honeysuckle next; the nectar is used for breathing problems."

Shikamaru nodded and pulled his bag around his shoulders. "Alright, lead the way!"